BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s central bank raised its key interest rate for the first time in nearly four years on Wednesday, lifting it by a quarter point as expected to fight surging inflation as the economic recovery gains momentum.
The Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) monetary policy committee voted 6-1 to increase the one-day repurchase rate to 0.75% from a record low of 0.50%, which had been unchanged since May 2020.
One member voted to raise the policy rate by 0.50 percentage point. The rate was last raised in December 2018.
Seventeen of 20 economists surveyed by Reuters had expected a quarter-point hike, with the remaining predicting a half-point rise.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon, Satawasin Staporncharnchai and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Kim Coghill)
